NFL Wild Card Recap: Seahawks & Texans Advance With Easy Wins

The Seattle Seahawks and Houston Texans each won their respective NFL wild-card playoff games on Saturday. Here's a quick recap of the action:

Seattle 26, Detroit 6

Thomas Rawls ran for 161 yards and a touchdown, and the Seattle Seahawks beat the Detroit Lions, 26-6, in an NFC wild-card game on Saturday night. Always a force at home, Seattle won its 10th straight playoff game at CenturyLink Field and advanced to play the Falcons in Atlanta next Saturday.

Seahawks’ quarterback Russell Wilson finished 23 of 30 for 224 yards and two touchdowns. He was helped out tremendously by wide receivers Paul Richardson and Doug Baldwin, both of whom made several circus catches in the game. Baldwin had 11 catches for 104 yards and a score.

Detroit’s Matthew Stafford was held to 205 passing yards on Saturday. He was sacked three times.

Houston 27, Oakland 14

Getty Images

The Texans defense forced the Raiders into three turnovers, and Houston beat Oakland, 27-14, in an AFC wild-card game on Saturday. Brock Osweiler had a touchdown pass and ran for another score for the Texans, who never trailed in the game.

Raiders’ rookie quarterback Connor Cook was shaky in his first career start, completing just 18 of 45 passes for 161 yards with three interceptions and a touchdown. He was sacked three times by Houston’s relentless pass rush.

Cook started in place of injured second-string quarterback Matt McGloin, who replaced the injured Derek Carr in Week 16. Cook’s first interception, made by defensive stud Jadaveon Clowney, was the most costly. It gave the Texans incredible field position and led to their first touchdown drive.

Houston had a commanding 20-7 lead at halftime and tacked on another touchdown in the fourth quarter to seal the win. The Texans will face either New England or Kansas City in the AFC divisional playoffs next weekend.